


The Badlands

by ChromiumHeart



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, star wars the last jedi
Genre: Angst, Ben Solo - Freeform, Gen, Kylo Ren Redemption, Post-TLJ, Redemption, Reylo - Freeform, Star Wars - Freeform, The Force, force ghost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 09:15:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13268358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChromiumHeart/pseuds/ChromiumHeart
Summary: The future of the Resistance is unknown, but there is hope.(Author Note: the 'major character death' is neither Kylo nor Rey)





	The Badlands

The badlands were isolated. No one dared step foot in the woods beyond the desert. Whiskey soaked tongues in cantinas told stories of what went on in there, and the ghoulish, howling screams that had been heard carrying on the winds late after the sun had gone down. 

For him, it was perfect. There was a natural stream nearby, plentiful food and most of all, solitude. He didn't know it was what he needed until he arrived, concealing his ship under thick vegetation. He had long since ripped the tracker from its place in the ship, abandoning it in another system in hopes that if they were looking for him, the beacon would send them in the opposite direction. 

For the first time in his life, Kylo Ren had found a peace inside of him that he didn't know existed. 

He had only reigned as Supreme Leader for a short time. He knew how things were going to end for him if he didn't disappear. Hux had told him once in confidence that he had Phasma assassinate his own father, Brendol Hux, so he could assume a higher position of power. He wrongly assumed safety when Phasma went missing; one of the many casualties in the cock-up that took place in the orbit of Crait, but the chromed Captain seemed invincible. She contacted the First Order almost a week later, having escaped certain death in an escape pod. They picked up their formidable warrior on Crait, and Kylo had become well aware of the time that Phasma and Hux spent together. Planning. 

Kylo had spent a long time trying to find a suitable place to call his own in the universe, and he had been there nearly a year when a deep thrumming in the Force called him to a clearing where a familiar figure stood. 

"Master Skywalker." He breathed, collapsing to his knees, unshed tears making his eyes glossy. "I knew you would always be with me." 

Luke's visage was not one of malice or disgust. He had come when the time and the Force both willed it; when Kylo accepted everything and reached out for guidance. No one was ever too old or too stuck in their ways for change; not even a man like Kylo Ren. 

He used the Force to guide him, to show him how wrong he had been and to seek balance and understanding where he couldn't before. Once he was a naïve child, looking for love and acceptance among the darkness, but no more. 

_Breathe_.

Long hair tied back, he wielded his lightsaber like it was an extension of himself. His soul. He moved anything he willed with the ease of his mind, and long practiced efforts. 

He ran, leaping as high as the Force jump could take him, feeling his soul burst free from its rotting cage and soar. He barely made a sound as he raced through the badlands, working on his endurance, or going after his next meal. 

He was at peace. 

That peace lasted for another two years before the very foundation that he had built himself on began to crack. 

Pulled from a deep slumber, he was suddenly forced into a panic that gripped him even through the Force. His heart raced and he sat up, eyes wild. There was panic, then a sense of loving peace as the Force stretched out. 

"Mom." He whispered, his lip trembling as he focused all his energy into trying to connect with her. But she was too weak. 

The peace seemed to soothe his panic, but only for a moment before the connection was violently severed. He found his voice and screamed as he dropped to his knees, the earth trembling and cracking beneath him. The Force wrapped him in cold, panicked loathing, the likes he hadn't felt since he left the First Order. He reached out, desperately searching, but he knew what everything meant. 

Blinded with sorrow, he screamed and cried until he collapsed, throat raw and body wracked with emotion. He didn't know how long he laid under the stars, the galaxies passing him by. Somewhere out there, his mother had died, and he knew that the First Order was to blame. 

When daylight came, the sun warmed him through his dark robes as the Force wrapped him in its solid embrace, pushing him forward. Training him despite his misery. He hadn't known until he awoke that morning what had drawn him here or why he trained so hard with seemingly no reason. 

His thoughts were only confirmed when several days later, a familiar face found their way into his solitude. He thought he had heard the telltale rumble and hiss of the engines; his fathers ship. 

Rey wore her hair swept back from her face, looking every bit regal and like she was born to be a princess. It was styled with an Aldaaranian mourning braid and Kylo's heart felt like it was being squeezed tight, like something was crushing him from the inside. 

"Ben, you're our only hope against the First Order." She begged, her pleading eyes meeting his for the first time since the Supremacy. 

She didn't have to mention Leia, because like him, she had felt it through the Force when it happened. Kylo was sure it was Phasma who dealt the final blow; he knew she would never pass up the opportunity. 

His jaw set for a moment, letting the anger fester inside of him as he stared at Rey. 

_Breathe_.

Kylo took a slow, deep breath. He dropped his saber hilt to the ground beneath him. 

Let the past die. 

He disappeared from Rey's view for only a moment before returning, walking with purpose now. A different saber hilt in hand, he activated it, and it sparked to life with a brilliant white light. He showed it for only a moment before deactivating it, glancing in Rey's direction. She was smiling. The Force seemed to smile too, filling them both with a free, floating feeling. It was time to end the First Order. 

They'd kill it, if they had to. Together.

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure if I want to keep this a one shot or make it into something more; comment to let me know!


End file.
